Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Andre Previn, Maxim Shostakovich :: Shostakovich: Complete Concertos

Wonderful addition to a CD collection!

Sam M. | Slidell, LA | 06/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I only want to add to Kyle Meyer's review, since he neglected to say anything of the cello concertos (the main reason why I bought the set).



Heinrich Schiff plays with precision, capturing the feel and energy of the work making this recording absolutely riveting. He can be extremely clean, a term often applied to Yo-Yo Ma's playing and usually negatively so, but I don't think this is a bad quality. Personally, I would prefer to hear a little more risk in the first movement of the First Concerto (a performance by Han-Na Chang comes to mind), but am grateful for his passion and command of both the instrument and Shostakovich's concertos. However, unlike Chang, he makes the third movement cadenza sound easy (as with everything else).



The Second Concerto is equally as powerful as the first, but in a different way. If the First Concerto is a war, then the Second Concerto is the consequences of a war. Overall, it is desolate, melancholic, and ironically beautiful at times. The third movement horns play a macabre fanfare that leaves a chilling aftertaste in the listener's ears. The work ends like lights being turned off in a bedroom, suddenly and quietly (the only concerto to end without a bang).



So far, Schiff's renderings are my favorite. This collection immediately became one of my more valued CD's.



Also of note, Maxim Shostakovich conducts the cello concertos with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Maxim is brilliant, making both orchestra and cello come together like one well-oiled machine."

Fantastic!

Deborah L. Risberg | Albuquerque, NM USA | 07/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 3-CD set is amazing! It is classic Shostakovich, and the quality of the playing is impeccable. I especially love the first cello concerto."